Hurricane Irma makes landfall on the Florida Keys

Hurricane Irma made landfall on the western coast of Florida on Sunday, Sept. 10 with wind gusts reaching as far as 90 mph.

The feeder bands of Irma are still heading north to Florida’s most populated areas. At the time of reporting, the storm was set to pass over the most heavily populated areas by midnight on Sunday.

“Fortunately, it looks like we’re near that last chapter for us here in the south-east coast,” Ed Rappaport, acting director of the Miami-based National Hurricane Center told The Guardian.

Miami’s deputy fire chief said in an interview with the Telegraph, “The weather has deteriorated to the point where we’re not comfortable even sending anybody out to even evaluate the situation. So our only concern right now is the protection of life, not property.”

The hurricane made contact at Cudjoe Key with an estimated 25 inches of rain in some parts of the Keys. 6.4 million Florida residents were asked to evacuate, which is nearly a quarter of the entire population of Florida.

On Sunday night, the storm made its way to the Tampa Bay area. The storm, however, had died down to a category 1 hurricane by that time.

According to the New York Times, the storm will remain at hurricane levels of force until Monday morningas it pushes further inland.

U.S deployed anti-missile defense units are tested in South Korea in response to North Koreas ICBM threats. Internet photo

NATO’s General Secretary Jens Stoltenberg addressed the threat of North Korea’s missile program on Sunday, Sept. 10, calling it, “a global threat that requires a global response,” in an interview with the BBC.

This warning comes days after North Korea conducted its sixth nuclear test on Sept. 3 and continually made threats to use its nuclear arms against the United States.

Article five of Nato states that an attack on one member is to be considered an attack on all members. However, Stoltenberg did not confirm that NATO would retaliate in the event of an attack.

“I will not speculate about whether Article five will be applied in such a situation,” Stoltenberg told BBC. “What I will say is that we are now totally focused on how we can contribute to a peaceful solution of the conflict and press North Korea to stop its nuclear missile programmes.”

The North Korean regime claims its recently tested hydrogen bomb is capable of a 100 kiloton detonation and its July 28 test claimed to prove the effectiveness of an intercontinental ballistic missile reaching the U.S mainland.

Members of the U.N. currently differ on how to deal with the North Korean crisis after its most recent tests over Japan. That test in particular put more strain on North Korea’s relationship with it’s neighboring Asian nations.

While the U.S. has enacted strict sanctions on the regime, other U.N. members such as Russia have backed away from the idea of increased sanctions, questioning their effectiveness thus far. It is universally agreed upon, however, that a military conflict is to be avoided at all costs.

South Asia monsoon season results in the death of 1,400

This year, monsoon rains and heavy flooding in South Asia have killed upwards of 1,400 people. According to PBS Newshour, 1,170 residents of India, 143 of Nepal, and 140 located in Bangladesh were killed as a result of this monsoon season.

Summer monsoon season brings expected flooding from July through September to various geographical areas of South and East Asia. The science behind monsoon season throughout South Asia explains that the Thar Desert regions of India warm significantly in the summer months, causing a low pressure area that brings moisture-laden winds to the land from the Indian Ocean.

This level of disaster has not been seen for 60 years, says Valerie Julliand, resident coordinator of the U.N. in Nepal. While safety presents a primary concern, others worry about the displacement of 1.8 million children who cannot go to classes as 18,000 schools have been damaged.

In essence, school is a safe haven for children to escape human trafficking, child labor, and provides an overall sense of order. International disaster relief organizations are extending an arm and their best efforts for recovery during this time.